The Power of Love

She looks up, slowly noticing he's standing right in front of her. How could she not see him approaching? She usually picks up on her surroundings with ease. Not really sure why, but she looks and him and she wants to cry. No, that's not right. She knows exactly why she's feeling this way. Today has been hard on her, and all of life's cruelty is raining down upon her happy nature. She feels his hand on her shoulder, but barley notices as he sits down beside her. She knows that she'll have no choice but to tell him, and she's not quite sure how to do it.

As he walks up to her, he can see that something is wrong. Normally, it's her who sees him, not he who sees her. There's a look on her face, like she's lost and can't find her way home. The bewilderment is marred by something else. He can't quite place his finger on what it is, though. It's not fear, exactly; maybe it's more like she's shell-shocked. No, that's not it either. He reaches over to put his hand on her shoulder, sees her look right through him, and sits down beside her. That's when it hits him: the look on her face is not fear, but sheer terror. Terror marred by confusion and puzzlement. He wonders what could have possibly put that look on her face.

Summoning up a breath, she turns to face him. Looking into his eyes, she loses her strength, and she begins to sob. With him here to hold her, she can just let out all the heartbreak that is now embedded in her life. But as he holds her close, and whispers to her that she'll be okay, she knows it's a lie. He just doesn't realize yet how big of a lie it is. And to be honest, neither does she. She's not even sure if she'll ever recover from this, if she can ever look at life the same way. And as her tears slowly recede, she looks him in the eyes as he asks her what's wrong.

Just watching her turn her head, he can see that this is not going to be fixable. As much as he would wish to fix her pain, he has absolutely no idea how to fix this. And the thought terrifies him. But as soon as their eyes meet, she loses what little strength she has left, and begins to cry. Tears are nothing new to him, so he draws her close, and whispers to her that it'll be all right, that she'll be okay, she can get through this, all the while having no idea if he's right or not. This is not a simple problem that he can fix in an instant. This is something that he can't fix. At all. Nothing he can do or say will make this go away. And he has no idea what it is. When he notices her tears are fading, he looks at her and asks her what's wrong.

She opens her mouth, hears the words fall from her tongue, and feels the tears begin again. She barely registers his shock as she's enveloped in a hug that makes her feel loved. And she knows, as he holds her close, that he knows he can't fix this for her, but he wants to try all the same. Slowly, she feels a small smile form on her face. The realization that he can fix this, simply by loving her, is all she really needed to know.

He hears the news, and feels the sympathy welling in his heart for his girl. She makes his world go round, and to see her in pain is almost more than he can bear. He's not quite sure what he can do to make it better, other than to just be there for her. He knows that this is the hardest thing she's ever had to face. But as he sits there holding her, he can feel her smiling slightly. He pulls away and looks at her. The love that's in her eyes makes him realize that he has helped simply by loving her. And slowly, he starts to smile too.

Maybe it really will be ok...